How to get rid of mold on an old wood floor

Peter Hotton, Handyman On Call

Published 10:41 am, Friday, June 13, 2014

Q: I have a house built in 1950, and all the wood floors are original, with no polyurethane on them. Water comes through the screens on my breezeway, and this has darkened the floor to black. I tried sanding it in small areas, but the resulting color is much lighter than the original. Is there any way short of sanding the whole floor to remove the black and get down to the original wood?

A: In the 1950s, bare hardwood started getting a highfalutin new treatment: a waxing and a buffing to a fair shine. It was a nice finish, but relatively soft and prone to damage — and to mold, like your floor, because yours got wet. This treatment was short-lived because it required the floors to be stripped of wax and new wax to be applied and buffed.

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Ordinary varnish is the way to go, but today it is polyurethane-based. Treat the black mold (it might be black from wear, not mold, mind you) with one part bleach and three parts water. Let dry, then sand the breezeway floor and apply two or three coats of a water-based polyurethane varnish. If the other floors look OK, leave them alone. If not, give them the same treatment.

Q: We moved into a new condo several years ago that has granite countertops. My husband and I used glass cleaners to give the top a shine. We then found out that what he used destroyed the surface of the granite and has left it looking dull. We have tried granite-cleaning products without much success. Should we just seal it as is, or should we try to restore the shine first?

Q: I e-mailed you awhile back requesting the name of a silver polish you recommended in one of your Globe articles. Since I have not received a reply, again I request this information.

A: Sometimes there is no room for all of my column. Try Maas silver polish, available on Amazon.

Q: Our problem is our new roof. We bought our house eight years ago with a 15-to-20-year-old roof that needed replacing, no problems with staining that I can remember, having put a new liner in the chimney after purchasing the house. The old roof remained until two years ago when we replaced the roof. It looks as if the flashing is rusted, but upon looking closer it appears maybe a staining problem from above? The chimney is stained with a brown dripping, on all four sides.

A: Those brown drippings on the chimney are condensation from the oil exhaust, which is not completely burned, hence the brown color. The exhaust up the new stainless chimney cap is restricted by the liner being too close to the cap, forcing it sideways and down the sides of the chimney. Take off the chimney cap for starters. Also, make sure your oil burner downstairs has enough combustion air and is not in a closed space. Open the door and open basement windows for more air. Or, cut a vent, about 6-by-15 inches, in the foundation wall, to bring in more air. There may be no need to clean the liner, unless you see heavy brown stains inside. Clean the chimney by pressure-washing it.